Apple May Merge iPhone, iPad and Mac Apps to Create One User Experience

December 22, 2017

Taking a cue from Microsoft, Apple could streamline its App Store, making it easier for people to use a single set of apps that work equally well across its family of devices: iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

Apple currently has two App Stores: an iPhone-and iPad-based App Store and a Mac App Store. Developers currently need to create two different apps — one for iOS, the operating system of Apple’s mobile devices, and one for macOS, the system that runs Macs — to offer their programs on all Apple hardware. That’s a lot more work and tends to increase development costs. It also creates a scenario in which developers focus their resources on the apps users are most likely to interact with. And in a mobile-first world, that’s increasingly iPhone and iPad apps. Macs are given lesser priority when pushing updates and new features. Now it’s obvious why Apple customers have long been complaining that some Mac apps get short shrift.

So, with a single app for all machines – iPhone, iPad, and Mac, developers do away with creating two separate versions of their apps and so users will also get new features and updates at the same time. This is what even Microsoft did for its Windows. As a part of their One Windows dream, Redmond brought the Universal Windows Platform for Windows 10 that allowed developers to create a single app that works on different types of Windows 10 devices like PCs, tablets, hybrid devices, etc. Google also attempted to build combined apps that work universally on all devices, but haven’t seen much success.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is now reportedly working on a project, internally named “Marzipan,” which would be developed over the years to unify the iOS and macOS platforms.

Apple might introduce their app unification project in major iOS and macOS updates, probably, starting as early as next year.